My Rose
by AnnCarter
Summary: She's the heart of that rose inside his heart(s), and he could never let anything happen to her, not even losing her father. Post 1X08, "Father's Day".


_All rights for Doctor Who are the BBC's. I own nothing._

_Also: Rose & The Doctor forever_

* * *

As they walked towards the TARDIS waiting by the corner of the street, Rose felt tears filling her eyes. When she first arrived to that time, her only intention was to be with her father. All she wanted was to be there with him in his last moments of life. All she wanted was to see her father for the first and last time.

Rose would never have imagined this day happening the way it did. She would never have thought she'd have made such mistake, a mistake so grave that triggered her fight with the Doctor and nearly destroyed the entire world. If anyone would have warned her of such thing happening, she would never have believed him. She would never have believed that one time trip would cause so much damage.

But it did.

The Doctor closed the TARDIS door behind her and then looked at her quietly for a long moment, waiting for her to speak. She was not sure what to say. She had already said she was sorry, even though words could not describe how bad she really felt about it. She had already said everything she could have thought of. She did not know what else there was to say.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked her quietly after long few minutes of silence.

"I don't know. Somewhere... far from here," She muttered.

He looked at her quietly for another moment before sitting down next to her. "I'm sorry about your father," he said. She looked up into his eyes, and was slightly surprised to see softness in his blue eyes. He could be soft and sweet when he wanted to, but she has never seen his eyes that way before, so deeply overwhelmed with his will to protect her and keep her happy.

"Had I known..." she whispered, "Had I known what it would turn out to be..."

"Had I known, we would never have come back here," the Doctor said quietly. She could tell her father was right – the Doctor really did want her to be safe and happy, and not just because of her mother. "Those creatures should never exist."

She nodded grimly. "Yes."

They sat there quietly for another moment, the Doctor looking at the core of the TARDIS, and Rose looking at the floor. She was not sure what she wanted to do or when she wanted to go. It was much harder to lose her father after getting to know him, than growing up without him.

"Come on, then." The Doctor got up. "Where are we going? There is a planet in the edge of the galaxy, where humans live together with dinosaurs. Or a planet in which everybody's genes are mixed up and you can never know which creature you're about to meet. We could also go to the past and see human civilization beginning its journey towards the great human empires of the galaxy." He stood by the machine, waiting for her to decide.

She stared at the floor quietly for another minute before speaking. "This is all my fault, isn't it?" She asked. "If I would have stopped, if I would have listened to you, none of this would happen. The creatures, the end of the world, the missing people – none of it would happen."

The Doctor looked at her softly again as he came closer to her. "Rose," He said to her quietly, "If it wasn't for you, none of this would happen. But if it wasn't for me, you could never have made the choice to come here. How could you resist the temptation? It was your father. If I could... if I could have saved my family, the other timelords, my planet... do you know how hard it would be to not do it? And I'm nine hundred years old!" She laughed for a brief second. "My point is, you couldn't have done anything otherwise, and since everything turned out fine, I don't think I would have wanted you to."

"You... you died! The TARDIS disappeared! If it wasn't for my father, the entire planet would be destroyed by now and you would be dead! Forever!"

He brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "It was a good lesson for you."

She looked down again. "You knew my father would have to die." She said quietly. It wasn't a question. "Why didn't you do it when the creatures first appeared and saved all the people from being taken?"

"The Timelords would never have allowed them to exist. We travel time and make changes, and we never let these creatures come. If I could have stopped them, without having to separate you from your father, the father you just got to know..."

She stared at him for a moment, again surprised by how much he really cared for her, before hugging him tightly. She could feel him wrapping his arms around her and smiled. She always felt safe with him there.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "that I yelled at you. I knew you were right and it was wrong to save him. But I couldn't stop myself."

"I know," he said quietly. "I know."

They broke apart, again looking at each other quietly. The Doctor looked at her for a long moment, hesitating. Before leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers.

Rose's heart skipped a beat. It was nothing, nothing more than his lips touching hers, but that was enough to show her that she really did fall for him. And when he moved back, slightly overwhelmed by what he had just done, she knew the only thing she wanted was for him to keep doing it until the end of time – if that even existed for the Doctor.

"So, Rose," He gave her his familiar mischievous smile, "Where do you want to go?"


End file.
